History Main / WishfulProjection

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'', Akane Hasagawa is a lonely, angry girl who is a huge fan of the Phantom Thieves but projects her own romantic ideals on them. Namely, that her idea of justice is impulsive, selfish and destructive, differing greatly from the Thieves' idea of justice. She also [[MisaimedFandom mistook]] the Thieves' rebellion against specific, corrupted individuals as ''all authority figures'', including her father, are inherently evil, all rebels are always good. So when the Thieves "betray" her by working with her father (who is a police officer), it shatters her trust in them and allows her to be easily manipulated by the BigBad.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'', Akane Hasagawa is a lonely, angry girl who is a huge fan of the Phantom Thieves but projects her own romantic ideals on them. Namely, that her idea of justice is impulsive, selfish and destructive, differing greatly from the Thieves' idea of justice. She also [[Misaimed Fandom mistook]] the Thieves' rebellion against specific, corrupted individuals as ''all authority figures'', including her father, are inherently evil, all rebels are always good.

->''"Look down at me and you see a fool, Look up at me and you see a god, Look straight at me and you see yourself"''

* ''Manga/{{Kannagi}}'' has several moments like this where the main character, Kannagi, will often berate Jin for not being her stereotypical vision of a loyal vassal who doesn't think for himself, just as the goddess expects of him. This often leads to powerful arguments between the two.

** Although we learn that the bratty Kurohime [[spoiler: is only a part of the original one (a part without love and compassion at that) and any evil she did before the split [[WellIntentionedExtremist wasn't out of malice]][[RageAgainstTheHeavens (well, not against humans)]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Shadow Weaver always favored Adora over the other Horde recruits she trained, calling her an "ambitious, cutthroat, ruthless warrior". But as Adora herself points out, she doesn't actually possess ''any'' of those traits and never did. Ironically, they better describe Adora's friend Catra--who Shadow Weaver [[TheUnFavorite blantantly depises.]]

* ''Anime/KirbyOfTheStars'' has Fumu assume when this legendary Star Warrior Kirby steps out from his containment pod that it will be a tall prince with a slender demeanor and sword, only for it to reveal it is actually a pink puffball that can't even speak. This literally shatters her mental image.

* In the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' manga, Mei Chan hears about the eponymous Fullmetal Alchemist from various people, and forms a mental image of a ''tall'', ''gentle-manly'' ''prince''... and is horrified to find the short, rude reality. She later forms a similar image of Al's real body, after Alphonse, offended that she would think him similar to his brother, provides an exaggerated opinion of his own traits.

** Zig-zagged with The Riddler, who will at times make perfectly reasonable (if still wrong) conclusions about Batman's identity (Batman's vast array of skills means he was formerly a soldier or special-operative) but also makes assumptions without any logical basis since he keeps projecting himself on him (Batman funds his crime-fighting by stealing money from the criminals he captures, which he also uses to bribe the GCPD).

* Similarly, Lex Luthor seems to genuinely believe at times that Franchise/{{Superman}} is a pompous, controlling alien who only wants the worship and slavish devotion of everyone on the planet.

** Some interpretations of TheJoker have him projecting his own nihilism on the entire human race.
* Similarly, Lex Luthor seems to genuinely believe at times that ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' is a pompous, controlling alien who only wants the worship and slavish devotion of everyone on the planet.

* In ''LuckyStar'', Konata assumes a large foreigner is a violent kidnapper.

* ''{{Kannagi}}'' has several moments like this where the main character, Kannagi, will often berate Jin for not being her stereotypical vision of a loyal vassal who doesn't think for himself, just as the goddess expects of him. This often leads to powerful arguments between the two.

* In ''{{Kurohime}}'', the main character Zero has fallen in love with a powerful witch that saved him as a child, but as he grows older everyone tells him that the woman he fell for was an evil $^#%@, the problem is Zero refuses to listen. When Zero finally does meet Kurohime, she turns out to be a selfish brat who thinks men are toys and will use men to get whatever she wants and take over the world, going so far as even branding men with the kanji for "Dog" on their back. [[spoiler: About a third of the way in the manga, though, she gets a lot better and actually falls for Zero]].

* In one episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', Stabler admitted at the end that he failed to realize that a young woman was the killer because he saw her as a victim, not a person.

* [[PsychoPsychologist Hugo Strange]] believes that Franchise/{{Batman}} is living out a power fantasy since he's projecting his own lust for power on the hero. [[Comicbook/GrantMorrisonsBatman The Black Glove]] make a similar mistake, believing that Bruce is just playing a twisted game like they are. Both of them believe they know Batman better than he knows himself and both are off the mark. Some interpretations of TheJoker have him projecting his own nihilism on the entire human race.

--->''''Sousuke:''' The only difference between him and me, is what is being enjoyed and what is not being enjoyed.

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

** Although we learn that the bratty Kurohime [[spoiler: is only a part of the original one (a part without love and compassion at that) and any evil she did before the split [[WellIntentionedExtremist wasn't out of malice ]][[RageAgainstTheHeavens (well, not against humans)]]]]

[[folder: Comic Book ]]

[[folder: Live Action Television ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]


* In ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'', the love interest Cecily imagines her guardian's rogue brother (not really his brother at all, but simply a friend masquerading as his brother, [[spoiler: who does not realize that [[LukeIAmYourFather he is, in fact, his brother]]]]) as a bad boy from the stories she is told. When they actually meet, she says that she is already in love with him, and says yes to his marriage proposal that came during their introductory conversation.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]


* ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}''

* ''KirbyOfTheStars'' has Fumu assume when this legendary Star Warrior Kirby steps out from his containment pod that it will be a tall prince with a slender demeanor and sword, only for it to reveal it is actually a pink puffball that can't even speak. This literally shatters her mental image.

Related to InLoveWithLove, LovingAShadow, and ReplacementGoldfish. When a writer uses this unintentionally to [[ShowDontTell describe their characters]], it becomes an InformedAbility instead.

[[folder: Real Life]]

* Studies have shown that sexual predators believe that '''everyone''' (at least, every man) is a sexual predator, some just hide it better.
* The "I'm saying what you're all thinking" excuse for offensive remarks is predicated on the notion that everyone is as much of a bigot as the person making the remarks.

[[/folder]]

** About a half way through the manga we learn that the bratty Kurohime [[spoiler: is only a part of the original one (a part without love and compassion at that) and any evil she did before the split [[WellIntentionedExtremist wasn't out of malice ]][[RageAgainstTheHeavens (well, not against humans)]]]]

** About a half way through the manga we learn that the bratty Kurohime [[spoiler: is only a part of the original one (a part without love and compassion at that) and any evil she did before the split [[WellIntentionedExtremist wasn't out of malice (well, not against humans)]]]]

** About a half way threough the manga we learn that the bratty Kurohime [[spoiler: is only a part of the original one (a part without love and compassion at that) and any evil she did before the split [[WellIntentionedExtremist wasn't out of malice (well, not against humans)]]]]

* In ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'', the love interest Cecily imagines her guardian's rogue brother (not really his brother at all, but simply a friend masquerading as his brother, [[spoiler: who does not realize that [[LukeIAmYourFather he is, in fact, his brother]]) as a bad boy from the stories she is told. When they actually meet, she says that she is already in love with him, and says yes to his marriage proposal that came during their introductory conversation.